Authors note: And here we are with an over dated installment but for those of you still readying some interesting things about Mail are about to be revealed. The next chapter is half written so be expecting it sometime soon. Please read, review and enjoy.

A place once called home

"And why are we going into town?" Matt glanced at the royally dressed blond man that watched him intensely from behind. "I mean you're a prince so you could probably just send people in to do and get whatever it is that you want. Besides, it wasn't too long ago that you got shot. Do you really think that you're up to going on such a large trip? Maybe we should put it off for a while."

The other reached forward before slapping him painfully in the back of the head. "Matt shut up." He rolled his eyes before using the foot stool to step into the carriage that had been waiting for them to load for nearly ten minutes. Servants weren't allowed to question the royal family and therefore the carriage handler can only look back at the two in annoyance but never actually speak. "I keep telling you that I'm fine. If anything I'm more than fine." He held the door open for the other purely out of his own generosity. "Now get your ass in here and let's go to town. There's a lot more there that we can do there."

The red head watched as the other shut the door behind him before shrugging. Going back to town wasn't something that he thought he would be doing when he moved here with the King. He actually was promised that if he didn't want to he would never have to see the town or the people within it ever again. It wasn't that he disliked the whole place actually, he hated everything about it. The way the women claimed it was him that broke up families and the men who had visited him on multiple occasions but still spoke ill behind his back. Mello would have no idea how much it hurt him to be returning to such a place.

"I was thinking that we should visit where you used to live." Mello smirked slightly as the other turned to glare at him with deadly intent. "Well, I guess I shouldn't say that you lived there because you did much more than that. You whored yourself out. You slept with many men including my father and eventually seduced him into bringing you to the castle." The blond gave the other a long suffering look. "I thought it would be interesting to see where my father spent so much time when he wasn't home with his family like he should have been."

Matt's glare didn't relinquish, "Are you calling me a…"

"Home wreaker." Mello finished for him almost instantly. "Of course I am. That's exactly what you are except this time you decidedly picked the wrong home to wreak. Correct?"

Green eyes stared at the other for what seemed like hours before he nodded. "Of course Master Mello." His reply was almost sarcastic but if the other noticed he didn't make comment. "I spend all my time sleeping with men and begging them to take me home to their castle where I'll be their personal sex slave until they die. Afterwards I suspect I'll be back on the streets." He closed his eyes before leaning forward to rub his temples. Mello was bringing on a headache and if he had to spend the red of the day with the blond that's the last thing that he needed right now.

The blond looked almost surprised that the other had so animatedly admitted it that he leaned back in his plush seat most likely deciding that his job of making Mail's life hell had just been done expertly.

Mello stayed silent for the remainder of the trip and Mail almost jumped out of the carriage when they group crested the hill and made the final stretch towards the town that he used to live in. The blond glanced over from time to time taking note that Matt was nearly clawing the seat with the closer they grew. He shook his head before looking back out the windo w. He couldn't run away anywhere besides back to castle where he would have to be punished better by himself than anyone else especially his father.

"Master Mello." A voice from the opening carriage called as the stout man who drove the carriage glanced in to make sure that everything was in order. "We have arrived at the edge of town just like you ordered. Would you like me to announce your arrival or shall you enter with your attendant normally." He gave a slight glance towards Mail before smirking. "Or would you need more security than your attendant can provide for you?"

Mello waved the other off shifting past the two and stepping down with no help. "No, I think Matt will be fine for me on this day. I'm not out doing any official business so an introduction is not needed. People know who I am by looking at me there is no need for extras." He glanced back towards the red head that lingered between the threshold that kept him inside and moving out beside the prince. "Matt, come along. We have all day for you to reminisce and if it's not too much trouble I'd like you to keep me informed on what you're thinking about." He watched the other before shaking his head.

~*xXX*~

"Honey, honey, honey this here is a whorehouse. I'll tell you anything you want to know the only thing is everything I say to you comes at a price." The scantily clad waitress said lightly glancing towards the stage show on the other side of the room. "If you want to know if the King has ever graced up with his presence then yeah, he used to. He even had a favourite here kid named Mail. Pretty boy with amazingly red hair and bright green eyes. He was sold here as a kid and had to work for his stay by taking in men that wanted him." She laughed lightly, "He was actually quite popular. He has a way with men and women alike."

Mello gave the once over of his glass before taking a tiny sip finally deciding that he didn't not like the liquor that they were serving here. It wasn't the premium that they served at the castle but when in Rome. "What do you mean by that?" He questioned as the woman glanced around before taking a seat in front of him. "I mean he managed to lure in my father but was it just by luck or…"

The woman stifled a laugh, "No honey it's not by luck. Mail has a way with people but I can't really explain it. It's like he can look at you and figure out exactly what it is that you want and then he gives it to them. Your father for instance wanted someone who would bend to his will but be innocent at the same time. Mail gave him exactly what it was that he was looking for. It's rare that you see an actual glimpse of the actual boy underneath. He exists and he's anything but innocent."

Blond hair shifted forward to hide his face from the woman but he nodded all the same. "Is that right. Mail used that ability to work his way out of this place?"

She shrugged, "He had a debt to pay and it wasn't just his own. He was working off his mother's debt here also. People felt bad for him, I mean the woman here at first but once he started stealing customers and ultimately became the favourite of the King no one felt bad for him any longer. He's a bad seed just like his mother. They have no sense of loyalty. They only see what they want and will step on anyone and everyone to get there. Now that he's in the castle with you I would certainly watch out because if he starts playing his cards you never know what may happen."

"I understand. I never pictured him at the type." He glanced up as she shrugged glancing back to her manager who waved her off. As long as she was talking to the prince she was apparently off the clock. That wouldn't be bad. "You say that he was paying off his mother's debt also. Tell me about her."

The woman sighed shifting slightly in her seat almost as if she were uncomfortable. "We don't really talk about her here anymore. You really can't without upsetting some of the other women who have been here for a while. About nineteen years she came wandering into town and was real poor you see. We didn't think she had looks or nothing but even the ugly girls can sell you know. After a little washing and primping it turned out that she was beautiful and not just normal beautiful she was stunning. Men around here started calling her Nightingale. She never had an actual name and if she did she didn't tell any of us. Typically she didn't even talk to us." She shook her head glancing towards her manager that was eyeing her accordingly. "See, everyone's getting real antsy with me talking about her. After a while we figured out that she wasn't looking for a home or even money she wanted a man to take care of her. She would steal customers away and was just plain hated. One day some fancy fellow came in but no one knew who he was. He stole her away from this place. I guess she was every bit of what he wanted." She shrugged lightly before continuing. "By that time she had managed to accumulate heavy debts and it didn't do well for us when she ran out but around twelve years later she returned with young Mail. She sold him for half of her debt and then promised he would work the rest off any way that he could. The old manager asked to sleep on it and sometime during the night she ran leaving poor Mail behind."

"Did he?" Mello asked taking a long drag and staring into space.

She frowned, "Did he what?"

"Pay everything off himself?" The blond questioned giving a dark glance backwards to the door where Mail stood. He knew that the other was outside waiting for him to return but they didn't. He almost couldn't believe everything that they were telling him. The sweet, flustered and innocent boy that he had come to know for the last few days was nothing but a front that he had developed for his father and their family.

She nodded, "That's one thing we can say about him. He was a worker that his mother never was. He did everything that he could until the day that he could start taking customers himself. He was even courted a couple times and turned them down so he could finish his mother's debt." She managed a slight smile but it was tinged with sadness. "Despite the way that he came to us and everything that he did to make sure everything was paid off it was all for himself. You shouldn't forget that he is his mother's son and can't be trusted."

Mello sighed, "I see and if I were to bring Mail back here?" He questioned taking special care that he kept his eyes on the woman in front of him.

"I don't know. He seemed pretty damn content that he found someone to save him just like his mother. I'll never forget that smug smile though if he's ever kicked out of the Castle then he won't have anywhere to go. Women don't want him around their men. Men don't want him around their families and the children even know better than to think they should speak of him. He would have to leave this place completely for him to get somewhere that no one knows him and even then I don't know how well that would work. How many beautiful male red head seductresses do you know?"

He nodded, "I see what you mean. He's actually right outside the door. If there's ever been something you wanted to say to him right now would be the last time. He tries to stay away from town."

Before he could get another sentence out one of the women who had been listening to the conversation from the very beginning made a run for the door. Instantly the manager sent several people to retrieve her before she could get anywhere near him. Mello tilted his head before making to stand so that he could see the spectacle outside that he could hear from where he was standing. Oh, he had no idea he would find out so much interesting information about the red head. He wandered how much his father knew of the boy he had supposedly saved.

~*xXx*~

"You didn't expect me to find out did you?" The woman hissed with enough poison that Mello stayed a decent distance from Matt. "You didn't think that he wouldn't tell me about your brainwashing. What you attempted to do!"

Green eyes watched the women for several seconds before the side of Matt's lip twitched as if he wanted to smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I am merely a servant of the his highness's son Mello." He bowed almost mockingly as the woman's face turned red. Her livid face was enough to draw the attention of the groups of people making their way throughout the town square without problem. "If you would please explain what it is that you mean."

She glared, "You attempted to steal my fiancé!" She screamed as even Mello looked surprised. "You knew he was well off and in the case that you and the King didn't work out you had planned to run away with him!" She looked back at the manager who nodded as if she were the first to hear the story.

Mello's blue eyes shifted across from the woman towards the red head whose only response was to shrug indifferently. "So?"